Bet

Bet

Messi scored twice in the Camp Nou clash on Wednesday night, which Barca won 3-1, to take his tally to eight goals in as many games against the Italian side.

The Argentine had failed to net in his previous three matches, but converted from the penalty spot in the first half and added another late in the game after he was set up by Cesc Fabregas and went on to beat Christian Abbiati with a fine finish.

Leo now has six goals in the Champions League this term (having missed the trip to Celtic through injury) and 65 in all in Europe's premier club competition, leaving him just six adrift of the tournament's all-time top scorer: Raul.

And eight of those have come against Milan. Messi failed to net in the 2-2 draw at Camp Nou back in September, 2011 but did convert a penalty in the 3-2 win at San Siro in a second group game in November of that year. The two teams then met again in the quarter-finals and the Argentine netted two more from the spot in Barcelona following a goalless game in Italy.

The Catalans lost 2-0 in Milan last season in the first leg of the teams' last-16 tie, but Messi struck twice (his first from open play against the Rossoneri) in a remarkable 4-0 turnaround in March. He then added another at San Siro last month (his only goal in October), before Wednesday's double made it eight from eight.

Previously, Messi's biggest 'victims' in the Champions League were Bayer Leverkusen (six in just two games) and Arsenal (six in four) and the Rossoneri (six in seven).

Milan now have that dubious honour outright, however, although the Italians can console themselves that at least it has taken Leo eight games to reach the figure, while half of the goals have come from the penalty spot.